Welcome to my March 2020 cost of living post. As a 32-year-old teacher living in Bangkok, the idea is to show what I get and spend to help others plan. It also helps me keep track of my spending too. I’m not too serious about counting every baht precisely so the figures below are rounded up / down to make things easy.
I live near Hua Mak airport link with my Thai girlfriend. She’s a freelance English teacher and her income varies month to month. In general, she looks after her own expenses but I cover our rent and utilities.
Income: 76,000 baht
My income was slightly down in the last month as classes were canceled and I couldn’t pick up any overtime. I’m lucky that my salary is guaranteed every month and I get paid during school breaks. With my six-week summer break starting on the 30th March, it’s reassuring to know that I have this base salary to fall back on.
I usually teach 18 hours over a five-day week, Wednesday-Sunday. Midweek evenings, weekends morning to early afternoon. I spend around an extra 18 hours in the office planning, doing admin and attending meetings.
I also get income from my book, Settling in Thailand, as well as royalties from a couple of teaching books I’ve co-written.
Spent: 80,000 baht
For the first time in a while, I spent more than I made. This was mostly down to buying a few weeks’ worth of groceries towards the end of the month.
Accommodation: 17,000 baht
This is usually my biggest expense but it’s still under 25% of my income every month so is pretty affordable. Sure, I could find somewhere a few thousand baht cheaper but this place suits me just fine.
I live in an 82sq meter one-bedroom condo near Hua Mak airport link. It’s an older building but the condo is basically two units joined together so I have a 41sq meter living room/kitchen and a 41sq meter bedroom/study /walk-in wardrobe with a bathroom in the middle.
There’s a pool, shop and a few restaurants nearby. It’s nothing fancy but I’ve added furniture and decorations over the last year to make it nice inside. Having a huge living area and bedroom makes a big difference for the two of us.
Utility Bills: 3,500 baht
Electric (1,000 baht) Water (300 baht) Internet and Premier League Football TV (1,200 baht) Phone (500 baht) Netflix (400 baht) Spotify (120 baht)
With the last week of the month being stuck at home, I expect my electric bill to rocket next month. I used to previously run the AC most of the day and bills of over 3,000 baht were pretty common.
During this prolonged period at home, I have to say that Netflix and Spotify are proving a bargain. I’m thinking of canceling the TV football package as it seems that the Premier League won’t be coming back anytime soon…
Food: 20,000 baht
I haven’t spent this much on food for a long time. However, the bulk of it has been in the supermarket as I’ve stocked up on supplies to last a few weeks.
I’ve been ordering a lot from Grab and Food Panda over the last two weeks and found some great local places. I wrote an article about my experiences with different restaurants during this period on Ajarn.com which is worth having a little read.
Entertainment: 5,000 baht
I managed to get out for a couple of rounds of golf before the big shut down towards the end of the month. With the round, caddie fee, tip, beers and travel, I usually spend about 1,500 baht a time.
I bought a Nintendo Switch here a few months back and this month they had a sale for digital games so I picked up The Witcher 3 and the DLC for Breath of the Wild. In total, they both came to 2,000 baht. The plan was that these would give me something to do during my six-week break, however, I might need to pick up Animal Crossing to further pass the time…
Travel: 0 baht
I’ve got a feeling that this section is going to be zero for quite a while…
Investments: 19,500 baht
My company takes 10,000 baht out of my salary and adds 10,000 of their money to pay into a provident fund. This is a great little scheme which is on target to pay out a nice return in five years when it can be cashed out (or continued). It also gives me a lower tax bill too which is a nice little bonus.
I also invested 9,500 baht into cryptocurrency. I use Bitkub here in Thailand and they work really well. With prices pretty low I topped up with XRP and LINK.
Other: 15,000 baht
I spend around 1,500 baht on transport a month through a mix of taxis, buses and the BTS / Airport Link.
Both my girlfriend and I are members at Fitness First. I wanted to start going to the gym at the end of last year but knew I wouldn’t go alone so I agreed to pay for both of us, this comes to 4,500 baht a month. The gym has been shut down the last few weeks and I’ll be getting a rebate when it opens again.
I have a maid who comes weekly for six hours to clean, do laundry and iron. I pay 3,000 baht a month for this. Having a maid makes my life much easier and doesn’t break the bank. The maid is still coming at the moment although we stay in different rooms and the maid company have introduced a range of safety policies.
I use my KTC credit card to split payments interest-free on certain purchases. I did this to buy a Nintendo Switch last year and pay 2,000 baht a month.
I got a letter from the Students Loan Company and found out that my monthly payment is now 4,000 baht a month. I think it’s the first time in years that the amount has actually gone down. I really wish that you could pay from an overseas bank account but that’s not possible so I transfer back money every month.
Saved: -4,000 baht
Although this is technically a loss, I did invest 19,500 baht in total and I could have reduced that to break even or come out in the black if I wanted. Having some savings in the bank meant that it didn’t really matter so I stuck to my usual investment amounts.
Overview
I’m in the fortunate situation where I’m off on vacation for the next six weeks and I’m hoping that things are back to normal by the middle of May when classes are due to start again.
I’ve not been panicking too much with what’s going on but have made sure I’ve got enough food in to last a couple of weeks should I need to stay in. The problem right now is the uncertainty of what will happen next.
I can see April being a frugal month as the opportunities to go out and do things will be very limited. However, I might just end up spending a lot more on utilities or things like video games and books to pass the time.
Hello, Richard. Actually your financial situation is remarkably good compared to most other foreigners. Even in my best year — my fifth year at a Thai university where I started with a Ph.D. from a major US university plus at least 10 years prior teaching experience — my best-salaried year was 63,000 a month plus free house for up to first six year, plus (mostly) fully reimbursed health care benefits. Most foreign teachers (especially at schools outside of Bangkok) start at 25,000 to 35,000 a month, and salary increases are extremely slow, with the bases for increases seeming to be arbitrary. Even in universities, salaries can be low. I know at least two seemingly “famous” Thai universities who seem to be using their “good name” to “lowball” their foreign faculty salaries — one was paying foreign professors just 35,000 a month in Phuket, and another was paying 30-35,000 a month in Chiang Mai. These universities usually have faculty retention problems, because the foreigners who are good enough to get INTO those jobs are also normally bright and productive enough to get back OUT of those jobs into more lucrative work elsewhere. The only places I know that pay as well as what you get are (allegedly) some of the better “International Schools” (if their advertised salaries can be believed, possibly private employment, and possibly some of those people who run their own businesses or who partner with Thai businesspeople who they can trust. I forget if you specified what you do or how you arranged it, but what I have described here is what I see being reported as the income levels of most other foreigners here in Thailand. That being said, I find your blog on this subject fascinating, and I hope you will keep doing it. Best wishes.
Hi Edwin,
Thanks for that.
I thought about university work and heard most teachers supplement their salary with private students or other jobs as the office hours tend to be pretty low. However, I like the language school I work at, the hours are set and I get paid well for it. I used to do two or three jobs in the past and could make close to 100k a month but had pretty much zero free time and was working 9am until midnight most days. In the end, I cut back on the hours and have a better quality of life. For sure I intend to keep doing this cost of living every month.
Thanks
Richard